CSX Columbus reaches for the sky

The 25-acre facility, which handles around 400,000 teu each year,was described to CM by Wilby Whitt, president CSX Intermodal Terminals, as “probably the most congested terminal in our system”. Currently containersare trucked to an off-site location prior to collection, simply to free up space at the terminal.

The three cranes, delivered at the end of August, will be ready for operational use in January. The site will be a hybrid, with the cranes serving a three wide, three high stack, as well as four rail tracks and dedicated trailer lanes; all these will be located under the cranes or their cantilevers. Once fully operational, the terminal’s annual capacity will be 750,000 teu.

“This is our first attempt at retro-fitting a terminal and if successful, we will have the ability to convert our other 35 terminals in line with our 20-year plan to increase throughput,” indicated Whitt, adding that construction of a new wide-span grounded facility is also on-going at Winter Haven, Florida, scheduled to open in May 2014.